Thinkpads Forum

I'm currently having some slowdown problems with a T60 which I've described in detail here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=110441

What I'm wondering is, for those of you running Debian Wheezy-based distros out there like CrunchBang, which packages do you normally install to make sure that the Thinkpad is running in tip top shape?

Rather than installing extra software to help speed it up I would usually opt to remove anything that I don't use. Any extra software that you install, especially anything that runs a constant process will only slow a machine down.

Step 1) Remove anything that you don't use.
Step 2) Run apt-get autoremove
Step 3) Remove any processes that auto start (I believe on #! the file you want to edit is located at ~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh)
Step 4) Regularly run apt-get update && apt-get upgrade to ensure everything is up to date, fixing any bugs.

I would also be a little concerned about CrunchBang running a little sluggish on those specs as it's a fairly light weight OS.

A must have for any respectable Linux Thinkpad nowadays is TLP to replace the good old laptop-mode-tools:
linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-linux-advanced-power-management.html.

"TLP brings you the benefits of advanced power management for Linux without the need to understand every technical detail. TLP comes with a default configuration already optimized for battery life, so you may just install and forget it. Nevertheless TLP is highly customizable to fulfil your specific requirements.
[...]
Please note: TLP runs on every laptop brand. Setting the battery charge thresholds is available for IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads only."

The developer is, of course, a Thinkpad user and highly respected long term member over at the German language thinkpad-forum.de.